A Lesson in Language

We all know that men and women speak different languages. I was not aware of just how different those languages are though until last evening.

My brother in law just returned from a fifteen month tour in Iraq two weeks ago. So I took a chance to catch up a little last night. He was telling me about a kit he got while he was there that would be ideal for my van. Here's where we started to speak different languages.

He said "Gerber kit."

Take a moment and think about that. If you are a woman, you have the same picture I do - a sweet faces, chubby cheeked, curly headed baby. If you are a man you have a completely different picture. You are seeing a multipurpose tool that hangs on your belt.

I was momentarily confused. "Why did he have Gerber kits?" But my brain started seeking out logic and it suddenly made sense to me. Perhaps they were out on patrols and came across families with small children in need. Perhaps the fine folks at Gerber made a donation to the humanitarian effort and put together packs for the soldiers to distribute. Makes sense!

But then he started telling me what was in the kit. Flashlight. (Logic seeker still active) Ok so I can change a diaper in the back of my car at night. Shovel. Ok so I can bury the dirty diaper if I don't have anything to wrap it up in and it's just THAT foul. But then he said the flashlight had a really heavy handle in case I was ever attacked. My brain shorted for a second and I started to think "man speak."

Duh!! It's a tool kit, dummy!! It's not a kit with diapers and wipes and food. I started to laugh out loud so hard my poor brother in law thought I had completely lost my mind. I'm pretty sure he was groping for his cell phone so that he could keep me on the phone while he called the men in the pretty white jackets.

Although I have to admit, that shovel idea could have some practical applications.